Gary Zhou 
Rimac Automobili recently made history when the Nevera, its all-electric hypercar, set 23 performance records in a single day. The vehicle’s stats during its record-setting run were incredible, such as its 0-60 mph time of 1.74 seconds.
The Rimac Nevera completed the standing quarter mile in 8.26 seconds, which, as noted by MotorTrend, was over a second quicker than its best run in a Tesla Model S Plaid. Now, one could argue that the Nevera is a proper hypercar while the Model S Plaid is a large premium sedan that jus happens to be insanely quick, but the numbers are clear as day.
The Rimac Nevera’s performance simply exceeds anything that Tesla has to offer in its production cars today.
That is, at least, until the next-generation Roadster is produced. The new Roadster was unveiled together with the Semi, a vehicle that was ultimately delayed by several years. But even the Semi has already entered production, while the Roadster is still nowhere in sight.
Tesla enthusiasts are starting to notice the gaping hole that’s reserved for the Roadster too. During the 2023 Cyber Roundup, a Tesla shareholder asked Elon Musk about the next-generation all-electric supercar. Musk admitted that the Roadster’s delay is a fair concern, but he also assured the event’s attendees that work is underway on the upcoming vehicle.
“We expect to complete the engineering and design of the next-gen Tesla Roadster this year. Hopefully, start production—and this is not a commitment—but hopefully start production next year,” Musk said.
It was then no surprise that amidst the news of the Nevera’s recent feat, Tesla enthusiasts asked Musk if the next-generation Roadster could match the all-electric hypercar’s figures, particularly the vehicle’s 0-60 mph time of 1.74 seconds. The Tesla CEO’s response was a cheeky “lol.”
To be fair, Musk has mentioned some crazy capabilities for the next-generation Roadster in the past. These include the “SpaceX Package,” which are cold gas thrusters that are expected to make the vehicle even more brutally quick. The capabilities of the Roadster with SpaceX Package were teased in an information panel of the vehicle’s exhibit at the Petersen Museum. As noted in the EV maker’s exhibit, the Roadster could hit a 0-60 mph time of 1.1 seconds, a figure that Musk himself later confirmed on Twitter.
If Tesla does pull off a 1.1-second 0-60 mph time for the next-generation Roadster, then the Nevera’s recent figures may really warrant a non-ironic “lol.”
